Rocks in enclosures/fall damage??

[MassExodus]

I hear a lot about fall damage, and from day one in this hobby, ten or so years ago, I've read countless warnings about fall damage/substrate depth and hard objects like rocks being a no-no. It took a year or so to gather my own usual brash/overconfident opinion (lol)and start putting rocks in my enclosures. Now all of my spiders have them. Big ones. And they love them. And after ten years or so, none of mine have fallen on them and been killed, or even hurt. Granted, I only have ten spiders now, but I've kept as many as two hundred at a time, over the years. No problems with rocks, whatsoever, and my substrate depth is not always up to "hobby standard". My question is for noobs and veteran keepers alike. Have ANY of you lost a spider due to a bad fall when climbing? Including mature males, who we all know climb constantly? I'm curious.

 

[Arachnoclown]

I've lost one T from a fall in 36 years...an arboreal. It was a
Avicularia avicularia who fell out of her hammock during a molt.

 

[MassExodus]

I saw you mention that before. That sucks. A molting T probably splattered like soft butter on the inside..at least it was fast.

 

[PanzoN88]

None of mine have fallen nor do i put rocks in water dishes, mainly because i go for the bare minimum, as I am not creative. Most of the reasons i see for recommending against rocks is simply because they serve no purpose anymore.

 

[Solsurfer]

First I have lost a t from a fall it was my gf's and it was because of her cat .no rocks just coco fiber. Other than that no I've seen some climb and fall and were fine although it made me cringe, they are still fine. I have had rocks in a few but none currently never had a problem due to rocks. I just think of all the possible scenarios in which the rocks would be a problem before I transfer the t.

 

[MassExodus]

None of mine have fallen nor do i put rocks in water dishes, mainly because i go for the bare minimum, as I am not creative. Most of the reasons i see for recommending against rocks is simply because they serve no purpose anymore.

The purpose they serve is to the tarantula. Tarantulas like rocks more than cork bark. I've seen it too many times..

 

[Solsurfer]

Yeah I'll see a cool rock somewhere and snag it. it's aesthetic Like my C. darlingi I had a fortress made of limestone like a cave her color matched it perfectly too. She got too fat fat to fit in there though so I moved her.

 

[MassExodus]

Yeah I'll see a cool rock somewhere and snag it. it's aesthetic Like my C. darlingi I had a fortress made of limestone like a cave her color matched it perfectly too. She got too fat fat to fit in there though so I moved her.

The hospital I work at has "landscaping rock areas" with very nice big white rocks. I steal them occasionaly. Rofl. If you can actually steal a rock..

 

[Arachnoclown]

Rocks hold warmth for a long time. Even if you dont use heat...a rock will hold its daytime temperature hours into the night. Alot of this "crap" we hear is a few pansies in the unwritten AB bible preach their crappy doctrine like it's some religion. Tarantulas have lived for millions of years climbing, swimming, falling, living in filthy burrows with mold, ect ect...I can go on for hours. I've used rocks in a few of my enclosures...your right they do appear to like them.

 

[MassExodus]

Goddamnit, I never even considered that..HEAT...it may be the heat they like..you're a freakin genius AC..I even have basking rocks for my lizard and never made the connection...

 

[Solsurfer]

Haha I "aquire" rocks all the time . Yes! I don't believe in coddling my spiders lol not like that like putting little abdominal helmets on them and bubble wrapping the cage . I think one reason they may like rocks is because they must be like a microphone to vibrations for them. That probably has something to do with why they don't like loose/unpacked substrate. Can't feel anything sneaking up

 

[MassExodus]

Haha I "aquire" rocks all the time . Yes! I don't believe in coddling my spiders lol not like that like putting little abdominal helmets on them and bubble wrapping the cage . I think one reason they may like rocks is because they must be like a microphone to vibrations for them. That probably has something to do with why they don't like loose/unpacked substrate. Can't feel anything sneaking up

I always thought that too. But..my room temp is 72º F and I'm leaning towards AC's theory..Maybe it's both? Or neither..lmao its hard to figure..

 

[Solsurfer]

Yeah that definitely makes sense too

 

[KezyGLA]

I lost an A. genic. To a fall onto rock. Abdomen go splat.

Yeah its aesthetically pleasing to us. But why risk it

 

[MassExodus]

I lost an A. genic. To a fall onto rock. Abdomen go splat.

Yeah its aesthetically pleasing to us. But why risk it

How many years have you been keeping them Kezy?

 

[KezyGLA]

How many years have you been keeping them Kezy?

Got my first Theraphosids in 2005. Used rocks as decor in all my enclosures for few years until that incident. Scotland has nice rocks, but hey.

 

[MassExodus]

I just think these accidents are few and far between. I've often wondered how an eight legged animal could fall a foot and not catch itself without slamming its butt on the ground. @KezyGLA was your genic a fatty? Maybe its the overfed ones that have a problem? Just speculating. Anyone else have a bad tarantula fall, inside the enclosure?

 

[KezyGLA]

I just think these accidents are few and far between. I've often wondered how an eight legged animal could fall a foot and not catch itself without slamming its butt on the ground. @KezyGLA was your genic a fatty? Maybe its the overfed ones that have a problem? Just speculating. Anyone else have a bad tarantula fall, inside the enclosure?

It wasnt fat no. Although risk would be much greater if T was on the large side. I would say height is much more risky than rocks. Combination of both is asking for trouble.

 

[Dave Jay]

A couple of things -
- I was watching "Deadly 60" and the host put on infrared goggles to show what a rattlesnake sees at night and what stood out was all the rocks glowed with stored heat, so that theory is pretty sound.
- I steal rocks all the time, the local council kindly provide fresh Bluestone and limestone for my tanks from time to time.
- In some of my scorpion tanks I have polished stones, looking close up you can see that there are always drops of condensation on them even if the substrate feels dry, some drink from them and some stand on them daily, usually in the mornings.
- Not about animals falling on them but the other way around, I collect the little plastic "barbie doll tables" that come with a pizza and use them under rocks so there is no chance they can fall if burrowed under too enthusiastically. I place them on the bottom of the enclosure, add substrate and then put the rock in place, even if they remove all the substrate under the rock there is no way it can collapse on top of them.

The vibration theory sounds good too, combined with the stored heat rocks must be almost irresistible to Tarantulas .

I have no experience with animals falling onto a rock and being hurt so I can't add much in respect to that though.

 

[MassExodus]

I like the pizza idea..I think I'll try that next time. Maybe when I rehouse my lizard into his adult enclosure. He doesnt seem to care for burrowing though, he just makes scrapes, shallow ones. He seems to prefer clefts in rocks.